Two prominent Shiite clerics in Lebanon, Mohammad Hassan al-Amin and Hani Fahs, issued a joint statement on Thursday calling on Lebanon’s Shiites to support the popular uprising in neighboring Syria.

“We call on [Lebanon’s Shiites to] support the Arab uprisings…particularly the Syrian [one] which will triumph, God willing.”

“Among the [factors] that guarantee a [good] future for us in Lebanon, is for Syria to be stable, free, and ruled by a democratic, pluralist and modern state,” the two signatories said.

The two Shiite clerics added: “We reveal our unwavering stance in support of the Syrian uprising in an unambiguous [and] non-aggressive way; the same way we backed the Palestinian, Iranian, Egyptian, Yemeni and Libyan revolutions and sympathized with the reform movements and popular [protests] in Iran, Bahrain, Mauritania and Sudan.”

Hezbollah is the largest Shiite party in Lebanon and spearheads the pro-Syrian regime March 8 alliance.

Lebanon’s political scene is split between supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, led by Hezbollah, and the pro-Western March 14 camp.

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Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon, you know, ‘cause I've worked in a lot of offices and I tell you people do that all the time.

France signaled Thursday that it was prepared to take part in enforcing a partial no-fly zone over Syria, piling pressure on President Bashar Assad's embattled regime as it widens a major offensive against rebels in Damascus and surrounding areas.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian urged the international community to consider backing a no-fly zone over parts of Syria, but cautioned that closing the Arab nation's entire air space would be tantamount to "going to war" and require a willing international coalition that does not yet exist.

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Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon, you know, ‘cause I've worked in a lot of offices and I tell you people do that all the time.

Iran is sending commanders from its elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and hundreds of foot soldiers to Syria, according to current and former members of the corps.The personnel moves come on top of what these people say are Tehran's stepped-up efforts to aid the military of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with cash and arms. That would indicate that regional capitals are being drawn deeper into Syria's conflict—and undergird a growing perception among Mr. Assad's opponents that the regime's military is increasingly strained.

A commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, appeared to offer Iran's first open acknowledgment of its military involvement in Syria.

"Today we are involved in fighting every aspect of a war, a military one in Syria and a cultural one as well," Gen. Salar Abnoush, commander of IRGC's Saheb al-Amr unit, told volunteer trainees in a speech Monday. The comments, reported by the Daneshjoo news agency, which is run by regime-aligned students, couldn't be independently verified. Top Iranian officials had previously said the country isn't involved in the conflict.

Iran has long trained members of the Syrian security apparatus in cybersecurity and spying on dissidents, U.S. officials and Syrian opposition members have said. The decision to send Iranian personnel comes after rebel attacks this summer in Syria's biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, in particular an explosion in July that killed four members of Mr. Assad's inner circle, according to the people familiar with the IRGC.

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Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon, you know, ‘cause I've worked in a lot of offices and I tell you people do that all the time.

The rebels, certainly. These figures (to me) attract much more sympathy than the Libyan rebels, and we intervened militarily to support those.

I tentatively agree, although at this point I think the rebels should start to get serious about uniting and organizing themselves into a plausible alternative government now that it finally looks as if Bashar al-Assad's regime might be beginning to crumble. Before today, I can understand why they didn't feel the urgency but since the lifespan of the regime is now being measured in weeks -not months- they need to quit procrastinating and get on to it. Make it easier for the international community (and the United States) to lend its support to their cause.

Any particular reason why the two of you are acting like jackasses? Having a bad day, perhaps?

Yes, I was overly optimistic regarding the demise of Bashar al-Assad's regime -but it looked justified at the time.

Give it a rest.

Sorry, not to pick on you personally. I just thought at the time that such "optimism" was ridiculous (especially after we witnessed how long the Libyan fiasco took) and could be used for comic effect at a later date. Three months seems to be an adequate amount of time for my vindication.

Lebanese media reported Tuesday that Ali Hussein Nassif, Hezbollah's commander in Syria, was killed in a military operation.

No details were given as to the nature of the operation. He was reportedly killed on Sunday, along with several other Hezbollah operatives.

A Hezbollah statement to the local media said only that Nassif was killed during "operational activity."

Nassif was in charge of all Hezbollah operations in Syria, and served as the liaison between the Shiite group and Bashar Assad's forces.

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Logged

Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon, you know, ‘cause I've worked in a lot of offices and I tell you people do that all the time.